Thanks to SouthernCelt of TIWWA for identifying the handgun - a Colt M1911 .45 ACP.

An eye - strikingly blue. There's a noise of a machine pumping. As the camera pulls back we see an elderly woman in a nightgown. There's a tube running from her inside elbow to a dialysis machine. She's lying on a couch in a sitting room, the curtains are drawn closed. A younger woman, blonde hair, strikingly blue eyes, comes in and checks the machine, then sits on the couch.

ELDERLY WOMAN whispering: It has begun.

The younger woman gently puts her hand against the older woman's face.

YOUNGER WOMAN: It's all right.

Inside an passenger aircraft. A young blonde woman passenger relaxes in her seat then tenses as suddenly the aircraft jolts and the engines speed increases. The 'Fasten Seat Belts' sign is lit up. The young woman glances over to where a little girl is sat crayoning in a book. The little girl smiles at the woman then holds up the book to show what she's coloring in: 'Things That Fly'.

A blonde stewardess emerges from the rest room at the back of the passenger cabin and walks down the aisle, checking the passengers as she goes by, then goes into the kitchen section. The young woman unfastens her seat belt and walks, somewhat unsteadily, towards the rest room. The stewardess notices this. The young woman goes into the rest room and locks the door. She is distressed and starts crying. Then she calms. Outside, at the other end of the aisle, the stewardess is alert and tense. Inside the rest room, the young woman has pulled the paper towel dispenser off the wall, the paper towels falling to the floor. Distressed, she pulls out a package wrapped in plastic. Inside is a Colt semi-automatic. She puts the package down on a shelf.

At the end of the aisle, a beeper sounds. The stewardess looks down the aisle. She and another stewardess checks the alert board. A light shows next to 'Lavatory Smoke Alarm'.

SECOND STEWARDESS: Nicotinehead in the bathroom.

She goes to move past the blonde stewardess.

BLONDE STEWARDESS: I've got it.

She walks towards the rest room.

Inside the rest room, the blonde passenger is smoking a cigarette. There's a knocking on the door. The gun is still in the plastic bag on the shelf.

Outside, the blonde stewardess is knocking on the door.

BLONDE STEWARDESS: Ma'am. Open the door. Open - the - door.

She flips up the 'lavatory' tab on the door and pushes the catch. She opens the door and goes in, noticing the gun on the shelf. The blonde passenger is upset. The stewardess closes the door.

BLONDE PASSENGER: I can't.

The blonde stewardess takes the gun out of the bag.

BLONDE STEWARDESS: Everything's going to be OK.

She cocks the gun, points it up towards the ceiling.

BLONDE PASSENGER: Oh, god, no!

The gun is fired several times. The passengers scream as the plane rocks and belongings fall out of the overhead compartments.

Inside the rest room, the two women are buffeted as the plane decompresses. The blonde passenger is sucked out of the aircraft.

DR SCHROEDER pathologist: This was not a homicide, but all indications point to a sudden and horrible death.

FRANKin quarantine, on phone to Watts: I'm alone in a cell. I'm in a danger and I don't know what it is. But you do. This really sums up my involvement with the Group.

WATTSin Frank's house, to Frank: Tomorrow morning at 4.13 a.m., a 5.2 earthquake will hit the Seattle area. If this occurs, will you accept the offer to become a full member of the Millennium Group?

A digital clock changes from 4.12 to 4.13. There is an earthquake. Frank shelters in a doorway as objects start falling around him.

Richard Gilbert member of The Trust: Investigating the Millennium Group will be the most difficult case you've ever had. They don't tolerate enemies.

FRANK to Catherine: I am disgusted by their control over people. I doubt their Christian prophecies. I want to tell them to go to the hell they fear so much. But, beneath it all. I believe them and I can't walk away until I'm certain what the future might bring.

Richard Gilbert's car hits a lamp post and explodes in flames.

FRANK in quarantine, on phone to Watts: God! Death! The Group creates uncertainties with their secrets. That's not faith, that's control.

FRANK: The Group has vaccine.

WATTS: They only made enough for Group members.

FRANK: And their families.

Watts doesn't answer.

In cabin in the woods:

CATHERINE: If I get sick, I don't want you to watch me die.

Envelope from Lara addressed to Frank and containing an ampoule bearing the ouroboros and marked 'Marburg Variant PrP Vaccine'.

The helicopter lands. Two FBI agents get out one side, one of them is Barry Baldwin. The run off to the crash site. Out the other side gets a third FBI Agent, Emma Hollis. She sees several small body bags lined up on the ground. Baldwin has reached a group of yellow-suited investigators.

PALMER: We've located both the voice and data recorders on a wooded slope just about two miles west. We should have them in hand within forty-five minutes.

BALDWIN: How soon before we'll be able to get them transcribed?

PALMER: Two hours.

Baldwin checks his watch.

BALDWIN: OK. We are here looking for evidence of a crime under the suspicion that this airplane did not, you know, just fall out of the sky.

PALMER: They never do, Agent Baldwin. And as soon as we have evidence of anything, you'll be the first to know.

Hollis is walking through part of the site, which is being worked on by white-suited FAA people. She sees some burned papers - one of them is the 'Things That Fly' page the little girl on the plane was coloring in. She picks it up. Baldwin comes over to her.

BALDWIN: How you doing with all this?

HOLLIS: You imagine it, you think you can - but not like this.

BALDWIN: Emma, I got a scene here that's pretty much intact, but it's not going to stay that way for long, so every minute counts out there, right?

BALDWIN: As of fourteen hundred hours, the FBI will take the lead on this investigation as its status has become that of a crime scene. I am Special Agent Baldwin. I will be the investigator in charge. NTSB and FAA personnel will serve in a support capacity. OK? OK. This is what we know for sure.

Baldwin continues as a voice-over, while other agents, including Hollis, continue with the search. A further body is recovered and Hollis continues into a densely wooded area.

BALDWIN: Impact was at 11:38 p.m. local time. The aircraft began breaking apart structurally in mid-air and scattered wreckage and bodies over a two mile area. NTSB has located a structural anomaly at the tail of the aircraft that may have been caused by a fire in the aft lavatory. This alone could have caused the crash but we have also found a handgun with an empty magazine. They're connected - it's uncertain how - but we've just gotten good prints from the weapon, so what we need now is a body to match them to. Passenger and crew manifest lists one hundred and thirteen people on this place. We have recovered ninety-one.

In the woods, Hollis sees a wolf-like dog. It stands looking at her then turns away and lopes off. Hollis goes over to where it was standing.

BALDWIN voice over: I know this is hard, people, especially with the children, but it's of utmost importance that we leave this crash site with every possible piece of evidence and information as to what caused this tragedy. That's the job of the living.

Hollis discovers the body of the blonde stewardess.

A television screen - live news broadcast, from the 'VNN' channel. It's being watched by the older women seen in the opening act.

NEWSCASTER: Although there's been no official announcement, sources are saying the FBI is now investigating the crash as a crime. What has brought this downed airliner into the hearts of the world most prominently is the children on board. Twenty-three in all. Most of -

OLDER WOMAN: They'll never understand.

The younger blonde woman hugs her as the news broadcast continues. The younger woman's eyes are startlingly blue.

NEWSCASTER: - Sunlight Foundation for the Terminally Ill which had taken them on a charity tour. FBI investigators are being careful with any additional details they may have gathered here in the Sierras. We're anticipating a press release within the next couple of hours and will bring you those details as they come to us.

The broadcast is also being watched by Frank, as Jordan sets out the table for dinner.

NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Susan. Moving on to other news. The President's legal problems continue to mount as pressure within his own -

Frank switches the TV off.

JORDAN: Daddy, can you reach for me? I need another glass.

FRANK: I think I can manage that. Here you go, sweetie.

JORDAN: Thanks.

Frank hands her down a glass which she puts on the table. There are three places set.

FRANK: We're having spaghetti. You hungry?

JORDAN: Yeah.

Frank dishes out some food onto Jordan's plate.

FRANK: There you go.

JORDAN: Thanks, but that's enough though.

FRANK: Good. You start.

JORDAN:
We have to say grace.

FRANK: Grace?

JORDAN: Mm-mm.

FRANK: Is that what Grandma and Grandpa taught you to do?

JORDAN: Mm-mm.

She puts her hands together and closes her eyes.

JORDAN: Bless us, Father, for this food, and keep our family safe and together always.

Frank glances at the third place setting. He smiles at Jordan.

Later, Frank gives Jordan a piggy-back ride to her room.

FRANK: If you get any bigger, I'm gonna make you carry me.

JORDAN: Grandpa still carries me.

FRANK: Does he?

JORDAN: Is Grandpa mad at you, Daddy?

Frank sits on Jordan's bed and lets her go.

FRANK: Why do you say that?

JORDAN: Because he never talks to you.

FRANK: Well, we just both feel bad about Mommy, like you do. She was his daughter too, just like you are mine. It's very hard for us to talk about losing her.

JORDAN: He talks about those kids who died in the plane crash.

Vision - the little girl in the plane, man in plane with oxygen mask to his face, other passengers in the plane.

JORDAN: He says they want to find who did it.

Vision - passengers screaming, again the calm little girl.

FRANK: There's a lot of people working on that.

JORDAN: What if they don't find who did it? Will it happen again?

Frank hugs her.

McClaren's house. Bedside phone rings. McClaren picks it up.

McCLAREN: Yeah.

FRANK: Andy. It's Frank. I'm sorry for calling you so late.

McClaren is in bed. Alongside is his wife, who hasn't woken - presumably too used to the phone ringing at all hours.

McCLAREN: What time is it, Frank?

FRANK: I can't get this crash out of my mind. It's about the kids, Andy.

McCLAREN: OK, Frank. Can we talk about this in the morning?

FRANK: I don't want to talk about it any more. I see it. And that hasn't happened for a long time. That's why I need to get out there. Now.

McClaren looks concerned. Frank puts down the phone. And then looks again at the newspaper article reporting the crash.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

Crash site. A helicopter lands. Baldwin is waiting for it. Frank gets out and he and Baldwin shake hands. Baldwin hands him an FBI jacket.

BALDWIN: Special Agent Barry Baldwin. You want to put this on? It helps to know who the competition is. Now, I'm really not too sure what the thinking is - we've pretty much got things under control here.

FRANK: It's another pair of eyes.

Frank starts walking away. He hasn't put on the FBI jacket.

BALDWIN: Oh, sure, yeah. Welcome the input. You know, if you've never been to a crash site before, you get used to the smell.

FRANK: No, you don't. Ever. I'm just going to have a look around.

BALDWIN: Sure.

Hollis putting on gloves, in a nearby area of the crash site, when she sees Frank checking out part of the wreckage. She goes over to him.

HOLLIS: Anything in particular you're looking for?

FRANK: No, just looking.

HOLLIS: The tail section traveled farther than most of the debris. They think it snapped off mid-air. The aerodynamic pieces always travel the farthest. I didn't know that. I've never been on one of these.

She takes off her glove to shake his hand.

HOLLIS: Special Agent Emma Hollis, Critical Incident Response Group.

FRANK: Frank Black.

HOLLIS: I think you were at the Bureau when it was all still called the Behavioral Science Unit.

FRANK: Yes, I was.

They start walking away from the tail section.

HOLLIS: I saw the chopper. Thought it was you. Except I heard you weren't going to be out in the field, that you'd be sticking close to Quantico. Your reputation's pretty well known around the Academy.

FRANK: I hope it's nothing I have to live up to, Agent Hollis.

He walks away, inspecting the wreckage. Hollis follows him.

HOLLIS: I don't know if you heard the prevailing theory? The handgun they found had one set of prints which were matched to a flight attendant. They got traces of gun powder off her right hand, and they got two casings from teflon-coated loads. So the prevailing theory is she stashed the gun in the bathroom until she decided it was time for the plane to land.

FRANK: Whose theory is that?

HOLLIS: Special Agent Baldwin. I gotta tell you, though, it doesn't make sense to me.

FRANK: Why's that?

HOLLIS: Smoke alarm went off in the aft lavatory before the plane broke up. If she's going to crash the plane, she's not going to want to call attention to herself. Anyway, it's pretty lucky it came down in this meadow. NTSB guys are saying a few minutes earlier and it would have been all at impossible elevations.

FRANK: Luck is a tough word to use out here.

HOLLIS: Yeah. Let me ask you, what about the butterflies. Is there anything to them?

Again, there are butterflies flying around the crash site.

FRANK: They're attracted to motor oil, brake fluid.

HOLLIS: So, it's nothing then.

FRANK: They're attracted to lacrimal secretions.

HOLLIS: Tears?

FRANK: I don't know if it means anything.

HOLLIS: That's why you're here, though. I mean, you see things differently. That's what they say.

McCLAREN into phone: Just hold on a second, Agent Baldwin, so I can follow the bouncing ball. You got a match on the prints.

BALDWIN on phone: We got a seven point match on the stewardess. The only prints on the gun. We have powder residue. We've got her employment profile from the airline and it's spotty. Two medical leaves in three years. HR gave her a termination warning at the end of 1997. She's been on probation until the time of the crash.

McClaren is looking at a record. There's a photograph of the stewardess. On the back is:

Later. Night. Outside 123 Killenbeck Road. A car draws up onto the driveway. The driver is a young blonde woman with bright blue eyes. In the back of the car is a small child, who rubs her eyes then looks at the woman - she too has bright blue eyes.

WOMAN: Wake up, sleepy girl.

She gets out of the car and gets the little girl out of the back seat.

WOMAN: Hey, sweet girl. Oh, you're so big. How did you get to be such a big girl, huh? Come on.

She carries the child up the steps to the house. She unlocks the door and goes in. The door closes and a light inside is switched on. The house explodes in a massive fireball that instantly guts the house.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

Next day. The house is now charred ruins, very little still standing. Investigators are examining the ruins. Frank drives up. He walks towards the mess of rubble, buttoning his jacket. A suited man is talking on a cellphone. He sees Frank and ends his call.

FRANK: I got the victims listed. There's a two year old girl, a 28 year old woman fighting for her life in ICU.

SPATNER: Don't ask me how.

FRANK: Do you have any names?

SPATNER: No. Nothing on the car either. Mail goes elsewhere. County records say it's owned by a private trust. Neighbors don't know much. Said they're quiet, in and out, sometimes not here for weeks, even months at a time.

Frank has picked up a piece of wreckage. Part of it is marked 'BLOOD FILTER' and looks like it is part of a dialysis machine.

SPATNER: I was wondering if you had any luck with the victim. She able to talk at all?

FRANK: I haven't spoken to her.

SPATNER: Well, somebody is. Just got off the phone with a woman that said she's working with you.

FRANK: What?

Hospital. Hollis is walking down a corridor with a nurse.

HOLLIS: So, it's physically possible for her to speak.

NURSE: Yeah, physically. But emotionally? She just lost her two year old daughter.

Hollis stands outside the woman's room. Then enters. The woman is badly burned on the right side of her face.

HOLLIS: Hi. I'm Emma Hollis. I'm sorry for your loss. I'd like to help you. We know about Deena.

The woman opens her left eye.

HOLLIS: I work for the FBI. This explosion at the house wasn't an accident, was it? Please, we can't help if we don't know what's going on.

The woman doesn't respond.

HOLLIS: For your little girl, at least, anything you know about who might have done this to her.

WOMAN hoarsely: Get out.

Explosion site. Frank's phone rings.

FRANK: Frank Black.

McCLAREN: You know, for a guy who's been lying low for the last five months, you've been getting around, Frank. Word has it you requisitioned a forensic unit from the Salt Lake Field Office.

FRANK: What is this? An obligatory, budgetary call, Andy?

McCLAREN: I just want to know what the hell's going on, Frank. First you beg me to go to California, now my man Baldwin is telling me you're in Salt Lake City, you took one of his agents with you.

FRANK: What are you talking about? I'm here my myself, Andy.

McCLAREN: Doing what for god's sake? Now, I never authorized any travel out there, Frank.

Frank has seen Hollis arriving.

FRANK: There was a house explosion. It connects to the plane crash, to your stewardess.

The forensic team have uncovered a trapdoor leading to the basement of the house.

Frank looks at Hollis, smiling.

FRANK: You're a real piece of work.

Hollis smiles back, a little uncertainly.

Frank opens the trapdoor and shines a flashlight. There's a ladder down, and on the floor some plastic water or petrol cans. Frank goes down and Hollis follows. There's a map of the U.S. on the wall, with pins in various locations on the west coast areas. On shelves are propane gas containers, large heavy-duty batteries. Nervously, Hollis pulls away a cloth covering a large container.

HOLLIS: Mr Black.

There are one large and one small container, each marked with a biohazard label.

FRANK: Get out. Get out now!

Hollis rushes up the ladder.

FBI AcademyQuantico, Virginia

Frank and McClaren are walking down a corridor. It seems to be a basement area - no offices, but some cleaning equipment and storage boxes.

FRANK: It's just what I was telling you. There's a connection. It's what drew me into the case. That's why I had to get out there and it's in those containers.

McClaren stops Frank.

McCLAREN: What? What's that, Frank?

FRANK: Victims of a viral outbreak. The planned release of a biotoxin. Andy, the same one that killed Catherine.

McCLAREN: Now, wait a minute, Frank. Now, before you say this in front of anybody else.

FRANK: I'm sure about it, Andy.

McCLAREN: We've been friends for a long time, so I think I can say -

FRANK: These people are involved.

McCLAREN: How? How were they involved?

FRANK: I don't know. They were prepared. They planned for an outbreak. They were ready for it.

McCLAREN: Frank, your wife died in the Pacific northwest. These people are in Salt Lake City. You're way off, way, way off, Frank. I am all hands on deck trying to keep this crash case in order and you turn it upside down with this ridiculous chase for personal vengeance, Frank.

FRANK: There is a pattern, Andy. At ground zero, the outbreak, the first victim was a mother and a child. The woman on the plane is connected to the woman in the house explosion and they both had children. And now, these containers. You open them, you're going to find the same thing. A mother and a child.

McCLAREN: A viral outbreak.

FRANK: Yeah.

McCLAREN: A plane crash. A house explosion. If they are all connected to you and to Catherine, how come your daughter is still alive.

FRANK: We had something that they didn't have. An antitoxin. Just not enough of it. The people I worked for, the Millennium Group, they got it for us. They were warned.

McCLAREN: Well, maybe you should throw it to them then, because this is not going to fly here, Frank. Not in a thousand years.

He replaces the phone and the two watch as the technicians in full biohazard gear get to work. They lift the lid of one container, then the other. McClaren shakes his head and leaves. The two containers are empty. Frank returns to the corridor where McClaren is waiting for him.

McCLAREN: You shouldn't be out there. You shouldn't be here, either. Go home, Frank. Till I call you.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

A child's drawing - three people, two adults and a child. As Jordan puts her crayons away, there's the sound of a door closing.

HOLLIS: Hi. I'm sorry. And I know it's late and it's - I called, but your phone's off the hook.

FRANK: I know.

He stands back to let her in.

HOLLIS: I just can't get this stuff out of my head. About the crash and the house and those two women.

FRANK: I can't help you. It's over. It's a dead end.

HOLLIS: With all due respect, sir, I think you're wrong. That woman at the hospital knows something. I saw it in her eyes. She'll talk to you, I know it. If you hadn't noticed, I have a problem taking no for an answer. But tell me to leave, and I will.

The house seen in the opening scene. The younger woman is talking on her cell-phone as she packs supplies into bags.

WOMAN: Just take what you need. Be out within the hour.

She end the call and zips up the bags. The house phone rings. She's wary, but answers it.

WOMAN: Yes. We're moving everybody.

The hospital. The burned woman is awake and looks at Hollis who is stood by the door. Frank comes in and they both go to the woman's bedside. Frank takes photos out of an envelope. He shows a photo of the stewardess to the woman.

FRANK: We know who you are, Mary. We know all about you. And your loss. And I know that two days ago, you lost a daughter.

From his pocket he takes a photo of Catherine and shows it to her.

FRANK: This is a picture of my wife. She died too in a viral outbreak in the Pacific Northwest. You know about that. And I need to know what. I need to know what, Mary. For my little daughter. I need to know who killed her Mommy.

WOMAN: It wasn't meant for her.

FRANK: Who was it meant for?

WOMAN: For me. And my sisters. And the children.

FRANK: Who would do that? Who would kill the children?

WOMAN: Doesn't matter. There's only one left. Only one child.

FRANK: Where is she? She can't save herself. We can save her.

The woman starts to cry.

FRANK: Help me.

A small blonde child. A blonde woman places her in a child's car seat, then gets in the driver's seat and drives off down a country road. A car follows them - in it are Frank and Hollis. The woman notices their car in her mirror.

HOLLIS: You want to take them here?

FRANK: Wait for a safe spot.

Another car comes up behind Frank and Hollis and speeds up, overtaking them. The car with the woman and child drives onto a bridge. The speeding car drives up alongside. There's an oncoming truck. The speeding car avoids the truck, but the woman's car hits the bridge parapet and is left with the rear of the car perched precariously half over the edge. Frank and Hollis run over to the car.

TRUCK DRIVER: What the hell were they doing?

FRANK: Cables, chain, anything you got in there!

Frank turns to the terrified woman.

FRANK: Just don't move.

Hollis is the other side, talking to the child.

HOLLIS: OK, now don't move. I'm going to get you out.

WOMAN: No! Don't touch her. Don't!

FRANK: It's OK. We're just going to help you, that's all. Emma. Emma!

The woman lifts her hands off the steering wheel and leans back.

FRANK: What are you doing? No!

HOLLIS: No!

The car's center of gravity shifts. The car falls away, tumbling over until it hits the river bank below.

HOLLIS: Oh God.

Frank pulls Hollis away from the edge.

FRANK: No. There's nothing to see.

HOLLIS: She was so scared.

FRANK: I know.

Frank turns and looks as the speeding car, which had stopped down the road, drives away.